Energy Bill Relief Scheme

 

The government has announced a cap on energy prices for businesses, cutting the soaring rates for electricity and gas by up to 50% for six months from 1 October.

This comes two weeks after prime minister Liz Truss announced a new, taxpayer-funded energy price guarantee that will cap the cost of gas and electricity for households for two years, meaning an average annual bill will be around £2,500.

The government’s new energy bill relief scheme will provide a discount on the unit prices of gas and electricity for businesses, equivalent to the domestic price cap, for an initial six-month period.

It will apply to fixed tariffs agreed on or after 1 April 2022 and variable contracts.

Customers do not need to apply to the scheme to access the support as it will be automatically applied to bills.

The scheme will see the price per unit of wholesale electricity capped at £211 per MWh and gas at £75 per MWh, which is less than half the wholesale price expected this winter.

For comparison, wholesale costs in England, Scotland and Wales for this winter are currently expected to be around:

£600 per MWh for electricity

£180 per MWh for gas